WoW throughout the different regions

Looking at WoW's subscribers you often get the impression they're miles ahead of any other Western MMO.

And in many ways they are. However WoW is also far more established throughout the world compared to any other game.

Yet it is surprisingly hard to find concrete numbers as to where the WoW subscribers are located. We know for example that the Chinese have a vastly different subscription model compared to the NA/EU model.

The regions afaik are:
North America (including Australian players)
Europe
Russia
China
Taiwan (not sure if unique servers or same as Chinese)
South Korea (not sure if different servers)
Spanish (EU Server cluster but probably a lot of South American players)
Portuguese (not sure if located in EU or Brazil)

Now I know that the bulk of WoW players are located in NA, EU and China. I have no solid numbers (does anyone?) but I'd expect they make up roughly 80% of the total player-base.

The remaining 20% go to the other regions. Do they have different payment or subscription models? Anyone have any idea how popular WoW might be over there?

Yes, we have our unique servers and no, they are not same as WoW China. Different distributors as well. However, lots of Chinese play here because WoW China was expansions behind for many years due to government interference.

Originally Posted by Crowe

We know for example that the Chinese have a vastly different subscription model compared to the NA/EU model.

Not really. Timecards are used mostly here. There are hourly, monthly, and seasonal timecards for purchase which you charge up to your Battle.net account. And the pricing is pretty similar (albeit a bit more expensive) than a recurring credit-card subscription. It boils down to about 15 US dollars, so the myth that Chinese regions pay a lot less than their Western counterparts is entirely false.

The regions afaik are:
North America (including Australian players)
Europe
Russia
China
Taiwan (not sure if unique servers or same as Chinese)
South Korea (not sure if different servers)
Spanish (EU Server cluster but probably a lot of South American players)
Portuguese (not sure if located in EU or Brazil)